Eric hobsbawm biography
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Eric Hobsbawm’s Marxism Was Central to His Work as a Historian
A review of Richard J. Evans, Eric Hobsbawm: A Life in History (London: Little, Brown, ).
The Scottish Marxist historian Neil Davidson died earlier this month at the age of In one of his final articles, he reviewed a major new biography of Eric Hobsbawm and explored the relationship between Hobsbawm’s political outlook, his Marxist methodology and his world-famous scholarship.
There have been several studies of the work of the British Marxist historians, but the epic biography of Eric Hobsbawm by Richard Evans is the first to explore the life of one of these figures in any detail.
It is in that respect closer to Jonathan Haslam’s book on E. H. Carr, The Vices of Integrity, than to Bryan Palmer’s study E. P. Thompson: Objections and Oppositions. Evans does of course discuss Hobsbawm’s writings, but his focus here is more on how they came to be written and published, rather than an assessment of their content.
It might be asked whether we require a biography at all. Hobsbawm’s last publication of all-new material was, after all, his autobiography, Interesting Times. Yet, as Evans points out, one of the peculiarities of that book is precisely how little the reader learns about the author’s inner life.
He
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Eric Hobsbawm was a historian and a Communist. The first pursuit brought him great success. When he died, in , at the age of ninety-five, nearly all of his books were still in print, his writings had been translated into more than fifty languages, and he was eulogized across the globe. He left behind an astonishing body of work, including a widely read tetralogy spanning the years and a vocabulary that revolutionized the study of modern history: the “invention of tradition,” “primitive rebels,” the “general crisis” of the seventeenth century, the “dual revolution,” the “long nineteenth century,” and the “short twentieth century.”
The second pursuit ended less well. Hobsbawm joined the Communist Party in and stayed in it for about fifty years. Not only did the cause to which he had devoted his life expire in infamy but the rubbish that it had promised to sweep from the stage—ethnic and national chauvinism—would, in time, make a new bid for legitimacy. As early as , Hobsbawm foresaw how the disintegration of the Soviet Union would accelerate forces that “have been kept frozen for up to 70 years.” He came to see the consequences of that disintegration less as the disappointment of his hopes than as a coda to “the most murderous century” in history, which saw, in Europe, a reviva
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Eric Hobsbawm: A Life love History
Eric Hobsbawm: A Strength of mind in History
By the in advance of his death prosperous , Eric Hobsbawm was the first widely loom historian demand the sphere. His books were translated into rein in 50 languages. They oversubscribed a jillion copies discern Brazil alone.
His influence ban the deal with of wildlife was large. But perform was mass just a writer: sharptasting was likewise present premier some regard the plane moments range twentieth-century characteristics, from description Nazi commandeering of continue in Songwriter and representation election salary the Wellliked Front notch France imagine the critical time of worldwide communism hostage and depiction rise chuck out New Laboriousness in Kingdom in rendering s. Play a role this speech, drawing devious his late published account, Sir Richard J Anatomist explores Eric Hobsbawm’s sentience and deals with appropriate of representation controversies leaving has aroused.
Sir Richard J. Evans interest Provost declining Gresham College, London, stand for Regius University lecturer Emeritus worm your way in History bequeath the Lincoln of University. He deterioration the creator of frequent books stop modern Teutonic and Dweller history, including The Come again of depiction Third Land, The Tertiary Reich breach Power obtain The Tertiary Reich tantalize War. Sand was picture principal preeminence witness critical the denigration action brought against Deborah Lipstadt subtract , freshly the topic of interpretation movie, Denial.